A few weeks ago, Verity & I went snorkeling in the ocean off of Calica, Mexico. It was one of the most profound experiences I've ever had. We saw beautiful coral, a flounder, hundreds of fish (that came right up to us - shoo, fish, shoo!) and even a sea turtle, which I'm told are very rare to see (I didn't take the picture featured here, but it did look similar).

As I hung out in creation, I had this beautiful paradoxical reaction:

I was overwhelmed with how small and insignificant I am. God made this earth some 4.5 billion years ago. Now, scuba diving and the rest are fairly recent inventions, especially relative to the age of the earth. As are the Discovery Chanel, documentary crews and IMAX theaters. So there's all of this earth and sea that God seems to have created solely for his pleasure. And it's gorgeous. I've been obsessed with programs like Planet Earth and The Blue Planet since we got back from snorkeling, and I'm amazed at what's out there, all created not for us to marvel at but just for God's pleasure - at least for the first 4.5 billion years. Compared to the earth, the solar system, the universe... I am just one guy sitting in a cubicle dreaming of the future. I am so preposterously insignificant that my words will never properly sum up just how insignificant I am.

And therein was the paradox. In this insignificance, I felt more empowered than ever before. First, the tasks at hand seemed smaller in scope, even when they were of the world-changing variety (or at least the Chicago-changing variety). Second, I had a new sense of this being God's world and me simply stepping into His plan, His creation, what He's doing. I can accomplish anything He sets before me. It wasn't until I was floating around in the ocean, trying not to swallow water through my snorkel, staring at a sea turtle that this truth really came alive for me. To steal a phrase from Mother Theresa, who am I but a pencil in God's hand?

Labels: Favorites, Jesus